Posted: Dec 03, 2011

Women’s Swimming in Second Place, Men’s Swimming in Third Place After Day One of GNAC Championship/Invitational

BOSTON, Mass. – The Elms College women's swim team is in second place with 97 points, while the men's team is in third place following day one action at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship and Invitational hosted by Simmons College.

Simmons leads the women's field with 136 points, followed by Elms with 97, St. Joseph College (Conn.) with 82, St. Joseph's College (Maine) posting 52, Regis College with 42, Norwich University with 27, and Husson University posting 26 points.

Leading the men's field is Norwich (141) followed by Regis with 121 points, Elms with 73, and St. Joseph's College (Maine) with 69 points.

The Championship continues tomorrow morning with the first preliminary event at 10:00 a.m. Sunday's finals will begin at 5:00 p.m.

Elms' women's squad was led by sophomore Devon DeGrazia (Westport, Mass.) who notched a new GNAC, Simmons pool and Elms school record in the 500-yard freestyle (5:28.63), and came in second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:03.53.

The 400-yard medley relay team of DeGrazia, junior Tessa Dudunake (Northampton, Mass.), sophomore Ashley Kirchner (Dalton, Mass.) and junior Chalis Bird (Windsor, Mass.) set a new GNAC and Simmons pool record with a time of 4:20.65.

Bird notched third place honors in the 200-yard freestyle (2:09.69) and fourth place in the 500-yard freestyle (5:53.01).

For the men's team, sophomore Keegan Goan (Westbrook, Maine) set GNAC and Elms school records in the 50-yard butterfly (24.34) and the 100-yard butterfly (54.46). He also added a new school record in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:15.65 in the preliminaries. Goan swam a time of 54.70 in the preliminary 100-yard butterfly before lowering his new record to 54.46 in the finals.

Junior Mark Gehring (West Springfield, Mass.) notched a third place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:21.33) while freshman Jeffrey Ludington (Killingworth, Conn.) set a new school record in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:13.67, besting Goan's time set earlier in the day.

GNAC and pool records broken during day one action:
Women's 200-yard Freestyle Relay: Simmons College, 1:44.58
Men's 200-yard Freestyle Relay: Norwich University, 1:32.97
Women's 500-yard Freestyle: Devon DeGrazia, Elms College, 5:28.63 (New Pool Record)
Men's 500-yard Freestyle: Zack Earl, Regis College, 5:03.48
Women's 200-yard IM: Hannah Gajewski, Saint Joseph's College (Maine), 2:19.25
Men's 200-yard IM: AJ Graf, Regis College, 2:06.15
Men's 50-yard Freestyle: Djordje Mandic, Regis College, 22.49
Men's 100-yard Fly: Keegan Goan, Elms College, 54.46
Women's 200-yard Freestyle: Jen Collins, Simmons College, 2:02.89
Men's 200-yard Freestyle: Zack Earl, Regis College, 1:53.18
Men's 100-yard Breast: Stephen McGovern, Regis College, 1:05.62
Men's 50-yard Fly: Keegan Goan, Elms College, 24.34
Men's 200-yard Back: Lance Webster, 2:08.17
Women's 400-yard Medley Relay: Elms College, 4:20.65 (New Pool Record)
Men's 400-yard Medley Relay: Norwich University, 3:52.42